St. Andrew student wins Spanish spelling bee

Will represent Miami at national competition in San Antonio

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Blessed Trinity School Principal Maria Teresa Perez poses with the Spanish Spelling Bee winners, from left: Alana Batista, an eighth-grader at Blessed Trinity, and third place finisher; Annabella Bozo-Cabrera, an eighth-grader from St. Theresa School in Coral Gables, and second place finisher; and winner Andrea Schroeder, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew School in Coral Springs.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Blessed Trinity School Principal Maria Teresa Perez presents the first place Spanish Spelling Bee trophy to Andrea Schroeder, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew School in Coral Springs.

MIAMI SPRINGS | After correctly spelling round after round of words such as "parihuela," Andrea Schroeder, a seventh grader at St. Andrew School in Coral Springs, was crowned the winner of the third annual Archdiocese of Miami Spanish Spelling Bee.

About 134 students, fifth through eighth-graders representing 18 Catholic schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, competed Feb. 5 at the bee, with Blessed Trinity School once again hosting the event.

The competition began with a written spelling test which basically eliminated about 85 percent of the contestants. Then came the better known part of the competition: hear the word and spell it out loud before a panel of three judges.

Andrea survived a series of rounds that slowly dwindled the field to the three finalists. Those left standing were Blessed Trinity eighth-grader Alana Batista, who earned third place; and St. Theresa School eighth-grader Annabella Bozo-Cabrera, who wound up second.

Andrea will receive a round-trip ticket, for her and a parent, to travel to the Santillana National Spanish Spelling Bee which will be held in July, this year in San Antonio, Texas.

Last year's local winner, Ashley Zelaya of Sts. Peter and Paul School, earned third place in the national competition.